Head Down

When releasing our horses into the pasture on Friday afternoon we often have some horses that are very excited about the prospect of getting loose for the weekend. It's sort of like horse-happy-hour. The problem is compounded if it is a rainy day or the horse has been in pen rest for an injury for a few weeks. Some horses literally explode out of the halter the second you release the buckle. This can be somewhat dangerous as there might be some kicking and jumping associated with the release. To make this process less exciting I teach my horses to lower their heads when I take their halters off. I don't mean just a little bit either, I mean they lower their noses to the ground so that the halter falls off their noses. The act of lowering their heads automatically relaxes the horse so they aren't so jumpy. If you establish this as a daily routine the horse comes to expect it and will start to relax even before you remove the halter.